Combined shelf and towel-rack.



Aoirniba FREDERICK W. KOEHLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COMBINED .SHELF AND TOWEL-RACK.

specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 18, 191,3. Serial No. 755,250.

To all 'whom z't may conce'rn Be itknown t-hat I, F REDERICK 7. .Konn- LrR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in combined Shelves and Towel- Racks, of which the following' is a specification.

An object of the invention is to provide a combined shelf and towel rack of a simple and durable construction and which is adapted not only for supporting the usual toilet articles but also for securing the towel in position to prevent the same from slipping to the floor.

The invention embodies, among other features, a device that can be cheaply manufactured and which can be readily secured to a wall or to the back of a chair.

In the further disclosure of the invention reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, constitutingV a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the views,` and in which: o

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the device in applied position, with a towel held in supporting position; Fig. 2 is afront elevation showing the towel bar in lowered position, with the towel removed; and Fig.

3 is a Vertical transverse sectional view' taken on the line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the views, I disclose a combined shelf and towel rack 10 consisting of a shelf member 11 preferably formed of a singlepiece of stamped material, with the longitudinal edges`12 of the shelf member bent upwardly so that the shelf member 11 will. have a channel Shape, as shown, ends 13 of the shelf member being bent downwardly to provide bearings on which a towel bar 14 is mounted to swing, the said towel bar being interposed between the ends 13 vto lie beneath the shelf member 11. The rear upwardly bent edge 12 is preferably provided with apertures 15 through which suitable screws 16 are passed for the purpose of securing the shelf and towel rack 10 to a wall 17, it being understood that the shelf and towel rack can also be conveniently ecured to a chair or other article of furniure.

Struck from the body of the shelf member 11 are a plurality of ears 18 depending adjacent the front edge 12 and adapted to limit the upward swinging movement of the towel bar 14, it being readily apparent by referring to the views that when the towel bar 14 1s swung upwardly its medial straight portion will lie adjacent to and beneath the front edge 12 of the shelf member, but in view of the manner in which the towel bar is arranged with respect to the shelf member, the lsaidtowel bar, when swung upwardly and not. supporting a towel, will immediately gravitate into lowered position. VVhen a towel, howcver, is placed on the towel bar 14 and the same is swung upwardly, a portion of the towel willbe interposed between the shelf member 11 and the straight portion of the towel bar, so thatthis portion of 'ratentea Mail. 17, ioia.

the towel will frictionallyengage the under side of the shelf member and bind relatively thereto, thus retaining the towel bar 14 in its uppermost position so that the towel will be supported on the towel bar and be prevented from accidentally slipping to the floor, it being further apparent that portions of the towel will also lie between the towel bar andv the depending ears 18. Therefore, from the foregoing description it will be seen that when a. towel is supported on the towel bar and prevented from slipping to the floor in the manner mentioned, and it is desired to remove the towel from the towel bar for use, it is only necessary to pull downwardly on the edges of the towel, thus swinging the towel bar into lowered position so that the ftowel will be disengaged from the' shelf 'member and can be readily removed from the bar. Now when it is desird to return the towel to the bar 14 and secure the same in position to prevent the towel from slipping tov the floor, it is only necessary to swing the towel over the towel bar so that substantially the medial port-ion of the towel will be engaged by and lie upon the bar, and then the towel bar is swung upwardly so that the medial portion of the towel will engage the under side of the shelf member, thus producing a binding effect which will hold the towel lbar in its upper supporting position so as to bindthe towel with respect, to the 'shelf member and the towel rack and prevent the towel from accidentally slipping to the floor.

It' Will be apparent that the device described can be very cheaply 'manufactured and preferably consists of only two parts,

namely, a shelf member stamped or other- Wise struck from a single piece of material,

and a towel bar which is arranged to swing on the shelf member.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim:

As a new article of manufacture, a towel rack comprising a single piece of flat mate- I'al having its ends bent downwardly to form bealjings, a Crank shaped towel bar mounted to swing on the bearings and normally depending beneath the flat portion of the said piece of-materal, with the said towel bar adapted to receive a towel and movable upwardly to wedge the towel be tween the flat port-ion of lthe piece of mate- 15 rial and the said towel bar, and ears struck downwardly from the piece of 'material and adapted to limit the swinging movement of the towel bar. i

' In testimony Whereof I aflix my signature 20 in presence of two witnesses.

FBEDERICK` W. KOEHLER. Wtnesses N i D. A. F L. H. Low?? RIEL. 

